Engineering Summer Academy at Penn
Program Dates: July 7th 2025 - July 25th 2025
Location: University of Pennsylvania, School of Engineering and Applied Science
This three-week course offers high school students an advanced introduction to computer science, problem solving, and software development through the lens of modern tools, algorithms, and design thinking. Students will begin with a quick overview of Python programming and problem formalizing, transition into graph-based modeling and data visualization, and conclude by creating a capstone project that functions over the web through APIs.
The course is structured into two main parts each day. In the morning, students will attend lectures that cover the core material and provide foundational understanding of the day’s topics. In the afternoon, students will engage in hands-on learning activities designed to reinforce the concepts introduced earlier. These activities may include working through problem sheets with guidance from teaching assistants or implementing small projects that apply the material in practical ways. Depending on the task, students may work individually or collaborate in groups.
Students will be introduced to concepts and skills aligned with undergraduate-level computer science, while maintaining a supportive, exploratory environment suited for motivated high school learners. Our TAs are eager to ensure the learning of their students and will be available both durring lecture and lab.
This is not an introductory programming course.
Students are expected to enter the course with prior programming experience equivalent to at least one of the following:
Students should be comfortable with the following core programming concepts:
Students who are entirely new to programming or who have only limited exposure will likely struggle to keep pace with the course content and are strongly encouraged to seek a different course more aligned with their experience level. (not sure about this last paragraph harry personally. Not sure what we would do in this case or how we would advice them. THis is more of an issue for the esap folks.)
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
Students will design and build a capstone project in the final week that integrates game logic, visualization, and web services. Projects will be demonstrated in a final showcase at the end of the program. (Is this true harry?)
No assignments or projects will be formally graded nor will a transcript be recieved upon completion of the program with a formal letter grade. This is an exploratory, non-credit course. There will be no formal evaluation, no grades, and no ranking. Students will receive ongoing feedback and mentorship, and are encouraged to focus on creativity, collaboration, and growth. Regardless of whether an assignment or exam is graded, these assessments are intended solely for our internal purposes—to gauge student progress and understand the level of knowledge they bring to the course, not to evaluate performance of any kind.
Programming will be done on student laptops or remote machines. All required software will be provided or installable with guidance from course staff. (Is this true?)
As part of this program, students may be introduced to cloud computing tools available through AWS Academy, which provides cloud curriculum and hands-on labs aligned with industry certifications. The University of Pennsylvania is a registered AWS Academy member. Students may be invited to explore the AWS environment under the guidance of the instructors.
Students are expected to:
The course encourages creative experimentation and peer collaboration. However, all final projects must reflect individual or team-authored code.
Instructors and teaching staff will be available during lab hours. (Harry, do you think we should provide some times where students can come directly to us? Not that our TAs are going to be any less helpful, but with regards to any questions students might have with respect to uni or something? Regardless, I'm sure they get their fill already in some way. Just throwing this out there!)
| Week | Focus Area | Major Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Python, Graphs, Probability | Wordle Solver with Probabilistic Strategies |
| Week 2 | Visualization, Game Theory | Intelligent Agent for Custom Board Game [Harry I forgot the name of the game.] |
| Week 3 | APIs, Integration, Capstone Design | Capstone System: Game + Web + Visualization |
This syllabus is a living document and may be modified throughout the course to reflect changes in pacing, logistics, or instructional goals. Any updates will be communicated clearly to students by the instructors.
For additional questions, students may contact the instructors directly or consult program staff.